The coaches don’t want to say it, or admit it’s true. And they definitely don’t want their players reading it.

Attention players of the NIU men’s basketball team: Please refrain from reading on.

The Huskies could go dancing in March. No, not polka dancing, swing dancing or the kind of dancing assistant coach Donald Whiteside and his wife, Patrice, were doing at the Ja Rule concert last night.

We are talking March Madness and its NCAA Tournament, aka The Big Dance.

Right about here it’s understandable if you aren’t falling for it and think, “NIU? Yeah, right.” But for anyone who’s actually made it out to the games this year on a regular basis (not many) and has followed the team, you understand – somewhat.

Before we jump ahead of ourselves, let’s point to one game on the calendar and note its importance, which should determine if this notion of playing in The Big Dance is sensible or completely nonsensical.

Saturday, Feb. 22. Mark, circle, highlight, do whatever you’ve got to do to your calendar, because that date will be a huge barometer for what NIU is capable of.

Yes, the Huskies have a game this Saturday against Eastern Michigan, and you want to take the season “one game at a time” and all of that. Yes, the game is on the road and “every game in the MAC is a tough one” and all of those cliche-piercing statements, but NIU has been fabulous on the road this season (6-0 in 2003) and, heck, Eastern lost to Buffalo on Tuesday.

For those who are uninformed, Buffalo, prior to Tuesday, was winless in the MAC at a not-so-impressive 0-10. And it’s not like the game was close; Eastern got blown out of the water, 90-66.

OK, so NIU’s next game shouldn’t be a problem. Then, moving on to Feb. 22, which we’ve burned a hole through by now. That is the day that NIU brings in 7-foot wonder Chris Kaman and Central Michigan.

CMU, currently one-half game behind NIU for first place in the MAC West, is the only legitimate contender for the top spot in the West behind NIU. The next closest, Ball State and Western Michigan, have doubled NIU’s conference losses to six.

It being a home game, how the Huskies do against the Chippewas on the 22nd will be a good gauge for how far into March the team will be playing.

With six games left for the season, outside of two games versus Central Michigan (the second is March 5 on the road), the only team above .500 that the Huskies will face is Miami (Ohio) from the MAC East.

This season, the MAC holds absolutely no chance of sending any at large bids to the NCAA Tournament, so, as is the case most every year, the MAC Tournament will mean so much. With a win over the MAC’s overall leader, Kent State on Saturday, the Huskies will have proven there isn’t a team they can’t beat if they top CMU, and that bodes well going into Cleveland – host site of the MAC Tournament.

Anything can happen in the post season, but the odds are starting to look in NIU’s favor.